CX After COVID-19

Organizations have been focused on providing good CX for years, largely because of increased competition from physically distant digital stores, such as Amazon and eBay, along with the increased reach and breadth of product offerings from big-box retailers, such as Walmart. Organizations have realized that providing good CX helps nurture mutually beneficial, long-lasting relationships with their customers, which, in turn, usually has a positive impact on the company’s bottom line.

The COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns served as a catalyst for making digital engagement the dominant way companies and customers could engage and communicate. As the traditional channels and ways of doing business were constrained by safety protocols and labor issues, all attention was focused on digital interactions, which led to the rise of five key themes emerging in the world of CX.

This Dash Research white paper identifies and discusses five themes in CX that were driven by the pandemic lockdowns and subsequent recovery period: greater levels of personalization; support for seamless omnichannel experiences; more self-service options; a shift to digital-first research; and a continued focus on safe payments. These themes are apparent across multiple industries and are projected to have an impact long after COVID-19 has been eradicated.

Key Questions Addressed:

  • What are the key themes in CX that emerged as a result of the pandemic lockdowns and subsequent recovery?
  • How have companies deployed safe protocols for purchasing goods and service in person?
  • What techniques are being used to provide greater levels of personalization to customers?
  • How do companies effectively incorporate self-service tools?
  • What is an omnichannel approach, and what elements are required to effectively deliver this experience?

Who Needs This White Paper?

  • Retail CX professionals
  • Travel and hospitality CX leaders
  • Healthcare patient experience directors
  • Telecommunications customer care leaders
  • Food and beverage service directors
  • Investor community

Author Information

Keith Kirkpatrick is VP & Research Director, Enterprise Software & Digital Workflows for The Futurum Group. Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.

He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.

In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.

He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).

Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.

Related Insights
Sangoma's Final Public Quarter: Solid Cash Flow, Strategic Crossroads
November 12, 2026

Sangoma's Final Public Quarter: Solid Cash Flow, Strategic Crossroads

Sangoma Technologies reported F1Q27 revenue of $50.1M with strong 70% gross margins and $6.9M free cash flow, positioning itself well as its $204M acquisition by BRC Group Holdings closes in...
FIS Names Interim CFO as Fintech Giant Eyes Its Next Chapter
November 11, 2026

FIS Names Interim CFO as Fintech Giant Eyes Its Next Chapter

FIS appointed Alexandra Brooks as interim CFO effective November 5, 2026, following James Kehoe's departure. Brooks, a former public-company CFO, brings deep institutional knowledge to lead the fintech giant through...
Dropbox Bets Its 700M Users on Agentic AI
November 11, 2026

Dropbox Bets Its 700M Users on Agentic AI

Dropbox's Fall 2026 evolution adds agentic AI that transforms file storage into an intelligent action layer, letting teams describe outcomes while AI autonomously executes complex operations....
Paychex Turns a Decade of Steelers Payroll Into a Brand Offensive
November 11, 2026

Paychex Turns a Decade of Steelers Payroll Into a Brand Offensive

Paychex formalized its decade-long Steelers relationship into a multi-year HCM partnership, leveraging agentic AI as a competitive advantage where 73.1% of enterprise buyers prioritize the technology....
The CIO's New Leverage: MCP as the Shared Door Into the Enterprise
November 5, 2026

The CIO’s New Leverage: MCP as the Shared Door Into the Enterprise

AGNTCon + MCPCon cemented MCP as a shared agent standard. Futurum's read: the consistency of that standard is the CIO's new leverage. Govern the connector layer and you govern the...
BT's Full-Fibre Milestone Meets the AI-Driven Enterprise Moment
November 5, 2026

BT's Full-Fibre Milestone Meets the AI-Driven Enterprise Moment

BT Group's 10 million full-fibre connections milestone arrives as enterprises accelerate AI-driven network operations. With 52.3% of decision-makers deploying AI/ML for automated root cause analysis, BT's dual role as connectivity...

Book a Demo

Welcome

The vision behind everything in Futurum’s Custom Research practice is this: research should show you what is happening, what comes next, and what to do about it. It should be personal to each audience, easy for people to grasp, and structured so LLMs can reason over it accurately. And it should be fast and turnkey; you want answers now, not another project to carry for quarters.

Whether you are defining business, channel, or go-to-market strategy; evaluating vendors or justifying ROI; or commissioning research to fill an emerging market need, we have your back, with a program that answers your questions with the objectivity and credibility to drive real decisions.

To do it, we bring unmatched data to bear: Futurum research, surveys, and market projections; validated market feeds; ETR’s 15 years of insight from 10,000 technology decision-makers; G2’s buyer and user data; and what our analysts hear every day. Add leading primary collection, from AI-moderated voice interviews to surveys and analyst-led interviews, all turnkey, and every project comes out credible, nuanced, and actionable.

And we don’t just drop the results in your lap. For internal work, we provide analyst-led sessions, interactive dashboards, and a range of formats. For market-facing work, Futurum delivers turnkey activation and amplification that actually gets seen, by people and by LLMs, through our media and share of voice. This is research that moves decisions and markets.

We will meet you wherever you are, from a fast-turn brief to a multi-year program, and shape the work to your goals, timeline, and budget. The right program for your moment.

If any of this is useful, I would love to talk.

Benjamin Brown, VP Custom Research, Futurum Research

Benjamin Brown

VP, Custom Research · The Futurum Group

Newsletter Sign-up Form

Get important insights straight to your inbox, receive first looks at eBooks, exclusive event invitations, custom content, and more. We promise not to spam you or sell your name to anyone. You can always unsubscribe at any time.

All fields are required






Thank you, we received your request, a member of our team will be in contact with you.